“I hated it when doctors told me I couldn’t do something because I had a disability,” said Natalie Anderson, 15, of Marietta. She and her horse, Bella, competed in Rolling Hills Saddle Club equestrian show that was held Saturday at the Wills Park Equestrian Center in Milton.
This was Anderson’s first traditional competition making it a high point for a young girl who was born with a physical disability that caused her to have low muscle tissue. She uses a walker to get around. Anderson, whose parents were told that she may never be able to walk, holds blue ribbons from the Special Olympics and became determined to compete in traditional shows.
Since she was three, Anderson received equine therapy and went on to learn therapeutic riding from Stacey Edwards, the founder and executive director of Special Equestrians of Georgia, a nonprofit organization that provides therapeutic riding and hippo therapy with children and adults who have emotional, behavioral, developmental and physical disabilities.
Special Equestrians of Georgia came through Edwards’ passion for horses and the healing ability of the animals. “Horses have the same walking rhythm as humans so when using a horse, the brain actually believes the body is walking,” explained Edwards. Additionally, the therapies allow Edwards and her team to develop her students’ motor planning skills, sequencing and more.
When not at the barn, Edwards’ takes the organization’s miniature horses, Sammy, Cappie and Poppyseed to visit patients throughout Atlanta hospitals to brighten their days. “Even if they are not our therapy students, it is our goal to make people feel good and normal even if it is for one day,” said Edwards, who also wants to expand her practice to veterans.
Whether volunteering time as therapists, taking care of the horses or helping on the grounds of Special Equestrians of Georgia, the all-volunteer organization hopes to spread an important message throughout the community: disabilities or special needs does not mean limitations.
Although Anderson did not place in her first competition, her spirit carried the message of the nonprofit organization. “My motto is that if you put your heart and mind to it, you can do absolutely anything,” reflected Anderson, who hopes to attend Berry College and become a physical therapist.
To volunteer with Special Equestrians of Georgia, visit www.specialequestriansofgeorgia.org
In Other News: Local residents Cathy Schiff, Amy Fox, Julie Weinstein and Orlegian Snowballs' owner Kenneth Woodfin, held a fundraiser on Aug. 12 for the Berry children of Houston, Texas. The shaved ice store raised and donated $7,000 toward the children's trust aiding the siblings whose parents were killed in a car accident over the Fourth of July weekend.
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